Regions of Nepal

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Updates: 

I added 1981 populations of regions, calculated by adding the 1981 populations of the districts belonging to each region.

In "Administrative Subdivisions of Countries", I showed aanchal (zones) as the primary subdivisions. The zones could be grouped together to form five vikas kshetra (development regions). I added, "recent publications of the Central Bureau of Statistics of Nepal list development region and district names, but not zone names. The zones are probably less significant than the districts." The government's profile  of Nepal doesn't even mention the zones, and I believe they're no longer in use.

I've acquired the results of the 2001 census from a report  published by Nepal's Central Bureau of Statistics.

Country overview: 

Short nameNEPAL
ISO codeNP
FIPS codeNP
LanguageNepali (ne)
Time zone+5:45
CapitalKathmandu

 

Nepal has been independent during the entire 20th century.

Other names of country: 

  1. Danish: Nepal
  2. Dutch: Nepal, Koninkrijk Nepal (formal)
  3. English: Kingdom of Nepal (formal)
  4. Finnish: Nepal
  5. French: Népal m
  6. German: Nepal n
  7. Italian: Nepal m
  8. Nepali: Nepal Adhirajya (formal)
  9. Norwegian: Nepal, Kongeriket Nepal (formal)
  10. Portuguese: Nepal, Reino m do Nepal m (formal)
  11. Spanish: Nepal, Reino m de Nepal (formal)
  12. Swedish: Nepal
  13. Turkish: Nepal, Nepal Krallığı (formal)

Primary subdivisions: 

Nepal is divided into five vikas kshetra (development regions).

RegionHASCISOPop-2001Pop-1991Pop-1981Area(km.²)Nepali nameCapital
Central NP.MM18,031,6296,183,9554,909,35727,410MadhyamanchalHetauda
Eastern NP.PW45,344,4764,446,7493,708,92328,456PurwanchalDhankuta
Far-WesternNP.SP52,191,3301,679,3011,320,08919,539Sudur PashchimanchalDipayal
Mid-WesternNP.MP23,012,9752,410,4141,955,61142,378Madhya PashchimanchalBirendranagar
Western NP.PM34,571,0133,770,6783,128,85929,398PashchimanchalPokhara
5 regions23,151,42318,491,09715,022,839147,181

Postal codes: 

Nepal uses five-digit postal codes. The first digit represents a region; the first three digits represent a district. The codes are rarely used.

Further subdivisions:

See the Districts of Nepal page.

The development regions are subdivided into districts, which are further subdivided into villages.

Origins of names: 

Dhawalagiri: Nepalese dhaval: white, giri: mountain

Change history: 

In the 1950s, Nepal consisted of 34 districts.

DistrictPopulationArea(mi.²)
Bagllung100,0001,300
Baitadi150,0001,500
Banke and Bardia150,000800
Bara, Parsa, and Rautahat514,5561,388
Chisapani150,0002,000
Chitwan and Nawalpur150,0001,000
Dailekh and Surkhet300,0001,200
Dandeldhura60,000850
Dang and Deokhuri150,0001,100
Dhankuta531,3963,817
Doti300,2483,000
East No. 1 Chautara370,0001,493
East No. 2 Ramechhap250,4471,291
East No. 3 Okhaldhunga275,5032,037
East No. 4 Bhojpur238,533926
Gulmi50,0001,000
Ilam115,057530
Jhapa79,482457
Jumla and Humla160,0005,000
Kailali and Kanchanpur100,0001,400
Khajhani and Syuraj150,000500
Mahottari and Sarlahi700,0001,200
Morang228,9461,080
Palhi Majhkhand250,000600
Palpa400,0005,000
Pyuthan150,0001,000
Sallyan and Jajarkot450,0003,000
Saptari and Siraha431,599912
Sindhuli102,101902
Udaipur90,593927
West No. 1 Nuwakot400,0002,200
West No. 2 Gorkha200,0001,100
West No. 3 Pokhara450,0002,500
West No. 4 Pallo Nauwakot400,0001,500
34 districts8,598,40754,510
  • Population: 1952 estimate.
  • Source: Encyclopædia Britannica World
    Atlas, 1957 edition.

 

1962-02: Nepal reorganized into the following 14 zones.

ZoneISOFIPSPopulationArea(km.²)RegCapitals
BagmatiBANP012,250,8059,4281Kathmandu
BheriBHNP021,103,04310,5452Nepalganj, Surkhet
DhawalagiriDHNP03490,8778,1483Baglun
GandakiGANP041,266,12812,2753Pokhara
JanakpurJANP052,061,8169,6691Sindhulimadi, Ramechhap
KarnaliKANP06260,52921,3512Jumla
KosiKONP071,728,2479,6694Biratnagar, Dharan
LumbiniLUNP082,013,6738,9753Butawal, Bhairawa
MahakaliMANP09664,9526,9895Dadeldhura, Patan
MechiMENP101,118,2108,1964Ilam
NarayaniNANP111,871,3348,3131Hetauda (Bhimphedi), Birgunj
RaptiRANP121,046,84210,4822Tulsipur, Sallyana
SagarmathaSANP131,600,29210,5914Rajbiraj
SetiSENP141,014,34912,5505Dhangarhi, Silgadhi
14 zones18,491,097147,181
  • ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2.
  • FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4.
  • Population: 1991-06-22 census.
  • Reg: ISO code for development region (see above)
  • Capitals: Sources disagree about the identities of the zone capitals. I
    wasn't able to explain the discrepancies as moves from one city to
    another, so I have listed all the capitals named by more than one
    independent source, giving the most frequently cited capital first. These
    may be summer and winter capitals.

 

~1995: Zones fell into disuse, so the already existing development regions effectively became the primary subdivisions.

Other names of subdivisions: 

In some transcriptions from Nepali, long vowels are marked, but not always consistently.

  1. Dhawalagiri: Dhaulagiri (variant)
  2. Kosi: Koshi (variant)
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